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Is the Old-School Networking Letter Your Key to Success? Ah, the networking letter: a fastidiously crafted letter of introduction that lands someplace between a cover letter and a “let’s get espresso!” These letters are an old-school form of networking that involve precise papers and precise stamps, despatched through the actual postal service and landing on the actual desks of people you wish to meet for the needs of your own career improvement. Some individuals suppose its days are over, because of the pervasiveness and ease of e-mail and social networking websites like LinkedIn. But are these individuals proper? Let’s discuss… What’s a Networking Letter, Again? Networking letters are sometimes written by people who are at present in a job search, or contemplating starting one. They’re particularly helpful for people who need to learn extra a few specific business, company or career path as a result of they set the stage for you to collect recommendation, opinions and helpful details about your would-be career. The job seeker (that’s you) decides to learn about one thing specific (e.g. photo voltaic gross sales, or HR, or manufacturing) and then seems for people who are already succeeding in that arena. You then draft a letter of introduction that doubles as a request for an informational interview. If the recipient agrees, you’ll sit down and talk about the business, the qualifications for success and the rest that’s pertinent â€" together with folks in the recipient’s network who may be on the lookout for someone with your expertise. Your networking letter must be one web page lengthy, written in an informal enterprise tone and a ddressed specifically to the recipient. It must showcase your skills, explain your interest within the company or industry and explicitly state that you’re in search of career advice and to build connections in an effort to find a job â€" you aren't writing to get a job from that individual. Include your contact data and mention how you’ll comply with up â€" whether or not by phone, e-mail or both â€" and the timeframe you’ll use for following up. You’ll do well to enclose a duplicate of your resume, too. The Benefits of Networking Letters There are two main benefits of the networking letter: a chance to gather very useful info and the possibility to broaden your community (which is always an excellent thing if you’re on the lookout for a brand new job). The advantages of informational interviews are boundless, especially if you’re excited about increasing into a brand new industry or a new perform within your identical industry. Toward the top of the interview, the job seeker usually asks for the names of anyone else who might be capable of reply a couple of questions, and on and on the network grows. Further networking facilitates higher information, as well as more entry to unadvertised job openings. While networking can be accomplished a large number of ways and informational interviews can be requested over e-mail and even by way of LinkedIn, the real good thing about the networking letter is the truth that it’s tangible, which makes it totally different. Anyone can send an e-mail; not everybody will mail a letter. Most people like getting real mail and being singled out as knowledgeable, and the “shock factor” of a networking letter could be just the ticket to get a call back. It makes you outstanding because the sender, if nothing else, and generally standing out is the perfect thing you can do in your profession. The Drawbacks of Networking Letters In at present’s display-oriented, effectivity-pushed, all-email-all-the-time work setting with too much to be accomplished and never sufficient time to do it, a paper letter in the mail can come off as outdated, stiff, weird or even wasteful to some. The present-day offspring of the networking letter is the equally crafted networking email, which may be a better way to method some professionals. Otherwise, people who are know-how-oriented may think you’re out of touch with the way in which the world runs these days. (You could wish to handle this potential concern somewhere in your letter should you give this strategy a attempt on paper.) Your Mileage May Vary If you do decide to go together with a networking letter for your job search, the important thing to its success will lie in how well you've organized your follow-up plan. Keep track of every letter you ship, and observe up exactly the way in which you said you'll, within the timeframe you laid out. Doing so will make it simpler on your new contact to be in contact with you â€" and the better you make it on them to attach, the extra probably it is that they’ll actually do it. (Click right here to tweet this thought.) Networking letters actually aren’t the proper transfer for every person, but this old-faculty approach offers lots of potential when accomplished nicely. Your flip: Is the networking letter a fantastic software that has a lot of worth, or would you not contact it with a ten-foot pole? Share within the feedback! Image: Flickr